Rebecca Romero - Olympics Athletes - 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China - ESPN rowing -quadruple sculls; track cycling - 3km pursuit Rowing Olympic Games (1 medal: 1 silver) Quadruple sculls: 2nd (2004) World Championships (1 medal: 1 gold) Quadruple sculls: 1st (2005) World championships (3 medals: 2 gold, 1 silver) 3km individual pursuit: 1st (2008), 2nd (2007) 3km team pursuit: 1st (2008) A bend in the river When Britain's world champion Rebecca Romero got so fed up with rowing she quit at just 26, a chance phone call propelled her into track cycling and a new world championship gold in a new sport in the Olympic year. At Beijing, she has every chance of becoming only the second woman in history to win Olympic medals at two separate summer sports if she can follow her 2004 quadruple skulls rowing silver, with a medal in cycling's 3km individual pursuit.

She started rowing at 17 when her family moved near the Thames river at Twickenham and she enjoyed a swift progression through the British junior, under-23 and senior squads, finding herself heading for Athens in the quadruple skulls team that were beaten into silver by Germany. A year later she had been promoted to key rower and race reader when Britain gained revenge on Germany by beating them narrowly to claim the 2005 world title. Then a back injury lay off gave her time to reflect on how unhappy she was in the sport she describes as over regimented and robotic. The upshot was she quit to start a career in marketing. However in March 2006, British cycling coach Dan Hunt called to offer her a trial at the Manchester velodrome, after which she was told she may have a future and was offered a six-month paid trial period. World champion after just one year A month before that period ended, she became British time-trial champion in her first ever competitive race. She loved cycling and felt a newfound freedom and joy in it.

She had only been in cycling a year when she travelled to Mallorca, Spain for the 2007 worlds, which she describes as a magic time when all the pieces started to come together and where she won a silver medal in the 3km individual pursuit. A year later her home club hosted the world championships where two years after first climbing on the five-spoke track bike, Romero overpowered Sarah Hammer of the United States to win the 2008 world individual pursuit title. She lay awake half the night with a big grin on her face and went into the team pursuit the following day with the adrenalin of victory still pumping through her. Along with Wendy Houvenaghel and Joanna Rowsell in only their second competitive race together, they powered to the 3km team pursuit title too, ahead of the Ukraine. She speaks passionately about cycling, the nerves and excitement, the wild acceleration of the first lap. And if she can carry that enthusiasm to Beijing it will take something very special to stop her quest for a second Olympic medal.

Olympics: Cycling - Britain's cyclists sweep the board in unrelenting mastery | Sport | The Guardian Close This article is 8 years old The Laoshan velodrome will witness a first today. A track cycling race will take place and a Briton is not expected to win a medal. Only half in jest, Rebecca Romero was cursing her luck yesterday at being selected to ride the women's points race. "This is the position I'm going to be in, all the athletes have medalled in every event and Jeez, I'm out there riding around. That's going to be my motivation, to make sure I'm not the loser of the team." When a British team expects to produce a medal in nine events out of 10 in a particular discipline, and is fully expected to do so, that squad have arrived in a position of utter dominance. Indeed, such is the atmosphere among the cyclists and their coaches that it does not seem fantasy to suggest that Romero might end up with a medal. Certainly, if the momentum that has carried the British since 4.30pm on Friday were the only factor, Romero would win a medal.

The team-sprint trio of Jamie Staff, Jason Kenny and Chris Hoy set a world-best time in qualifying and that set the tone for what has followed. In every heat, in every qualifier, the Britons have been fastest across the board. Only one gold in the first five events has eluded them, and that was taken by Spain in the men's points race on Saturday, when Chris Newton was pipped at the last for silver and finished up with bronze. There is a more than healthy chance that both Chris Hoy, winner of the kierin title on Saturday, and the men's individual pursuit champion, Bradley Wiggins, will become the first Britons since 1908 to win three golds in a Games, and it could happen in tomorrow's closing session, when both ride their final events. There were two unlikely bonuses - Newton was expected to do well, having won the World Cup over the winter - in a Saturday-evening session which has to be one of the greatest four hours in British cycling. Romero and Wendy Houvenaghel qualified for yesterday's gold-silver ride off and, with the medals for Hoy and Wiggins, that made it three golds and a silver in the session.

The surprises were a silver for Ross Edgar behind Hoy in the kierin and an unexpected bronze for the 20-year-old Steven Burke behind Wiggins. It continued in that vein yesterday, with a morning's qualifying session that was "perfection", in the words of the performance director, Dave Brailsford, but it was typical. Fastest in all three of the qualifying rounds - Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton in the men and women's match sprints, the top two in the men's, the most prestigious event on the velodrome, and three Olympic records along the way. Hoy showed no effects from his gold-medal winning efforts of the opening two days, taking the Olympic record for the flying 200m in 9.815sec, and riding within half a second of the world record, set on the unusually fast track in Moscow. The Olympic record also went - briefly - to his young team mate Kenny, who became the first rider to break 10sec a matter of minutes before Hoy took to the track. Kenny managed 9.857sec, making both riders the only men to go inside 10sec here.

The cyclists appear bemused at times by the lack of competition in some events. On Saturday Wiggins was wondering where the opposition had got to and he was echoed by Hoy, "it is a surprise, to be honest. I don't know why. Part of me thinks some of them have been complacent, thinking a normal performance would be enough. Another part of me thinks that we set down such a marker in the team sprint that it killed them off before we'd even started. "I think that ride killed the other sprinters' morale, certainly. It wasn't just the final time - if they looked at the splits, they could see how much faster each of us was going. And so they're already thinking, 'Oh shit, these guys are on fire.' "But there have been a number of sub-par performances and not just in the sprint events. It's a shock because I came here expecting the greatest challenge of my life. We all thought we were coming with a huge mountain to climb. But everything we've done has worked out perfectly." It is "David versus Goliath" in the words of the Danish trainer Heiko Salzwedel, or "artisans versus artists" to quote a Frenchman.

The British have greater resources and show far greater ingenuity in breaking down every tiny element in every performance and working out how to improve it, bit by minute bit. Any performance with this disparity in results in cycling leads to raised eyebrows but there is one perfectly sensible explanation: what is in evidence in the velodrome is the cumulative fruit of 10 years of hard labour by athletes and the coaches. There is utter ruthlessness. The women's coach Dan Hunt spoke yesterday about a mass clear-out of under-performing athletes after Athens, after which yesterday's medallists Romero and Houvenaghel were found. There is clear thinking, as evidenced in the way the team management dealt with the fact that they had two women in the final: Hunt did not give either time checks, for fear of being seen to show favour, and that was left to other team managers. Nothing is left to chance in any area, be it the clock in the pits, markers on the track for the coaches to show the riders their progress against schedule or the colour of the day's T-shirt. Romero yesterday issued a warning for the rest of British sport: follow the cycling model or get left behind.

"What the rest of the world doesn't realise is that we can keep pushing and pushing. Other sports in Britain should learn from this. We have a great model, a great system. "We have the best of everything and it works. The model and the system should be replicated. UK Sport should look at the success we're having because, if other sports won't learn from us, we're not going to dominate at the London Games." Rebecca Romero Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com Medals: 1 Gold, 1 Silver (2 Total) Biography In 2008 Rebecca Romero became only the second woman after swimmer and handball player [Roswitha Krause] to win Olympic medals in two distinctly different sports. She started rowing at age 17 and had graduated to a place on the national junior squad barely eight months after she first picked up an oar. A year later she was part of a crew that crossed the line in second at the World Junior Championship (although they were then disqualified) and in 2001 she was granted her senior international début.

Barring 2003, when she rowed as part of a double sculls partnership with [Debbie Flood], she raced every World or Olympic championship as part of the quadruple sculls. The crew reached World finals in 2001 and 2002, but it was only in the Olympic year of 2004 that they made their breakthrough and won the silver medal at the Athens Olympics. The quartet went one better by winning World Championship gold in 2005 but this was to be Romero’s swansong in the sport as a serious back injury and lack of motivation caused her to leave rowing in early 2006. However she still wished to continue as a sportswoman and was able to transfer her strengths as a rower to track cycling. Romero started to train as a pursuit cyclist in spring 2006 and was national champion by the end of the year. She rapidly improved and by the time of the 2007 World Championship had become proficient enough to reach the final of the individual pursuit.

Her second appearance at the World Championships came on her home track in Manchester five months before the Beijing Olympics where Romero was to win the individual pursuit gold medal and break the world record on her way to victory as part of the team pursuit. Her performances in the individual pursuit in Beijing were of the highest standard and she defeated teammate [Wendy Houvenaghel] to claim a historic gold medal victory. Her plan was then to take a year off before returning to the track in an attempt to defend her Olympic title but circumstances conspired against her. The individual pursuit was removed from the Olympic programme by the IOC and Romero decided to switch to road cycling with an eye to competing in the road time trial, This did not prove successful and in late 2011 she announced that she would not be seeking a place at the London Olympics. Romero decided that she would switch to competing in Ironman triathlon events from 2012 onwards.

Results Rebecca Romero makes British Olympic history with gold in velodrome - Beijing Olympics - Telegraph Advertisement Rebecca Romero makes British Olympic history with gold in velodrome Rebecca Romero's decision to change sports in search of an Olympic gold medal was vindicated in Laoshan when she rode powerfully to defeat her GB colleague Wendy Houvenhaghel in the final of the 3km individual pursuit. Image 1 of 3 Flying the flag: Rebecca Romero adds a gold medal to the silver she claimed in Athens. Photo: Getty Image 1 of 3 Double delight: Rebecca Romero finally gets her hands on a gold medal after swapping the water for the cycling track. Photo: Getty Image 1 of 3 Making history: Rebecca Romero becomes only the second woman in Olympic history to win medals from two different sports. Photo: Getty By Brendan Gallagher 10:44AM BST 17 Aug 2008 Romero quit rowing and the women's quadruple sculls after they won silver in Athens four years ago and it was ironic, to say the least, that moments before she started out today that crew again won silver in the rowing competition.

Romero becomes the first British woman to win Olympic medals at two separate sports and only the second British competitor ever alongside Cardiff-born Paulo Radmilovic, who won gold medals at waterpolo and in the 4x200m freestyle. As she crossed the line she let out a cry of joy and one of toughest competitors in British sport was soon in floods of tears as she sought out friends and family in the crowd. Romero joins Roswitha Krause in the Olympic history books. Krause, representing the former East Germany, won a swimming silver at the 1968 Games in Mexico from the women's 4x100m relay. She then won silver in the women's handball final at the 1976 Games in Montreal and handball bronze on home soil at Moscow in 1980. Related Articles OLYMPIC GAMES 2008: CYCLING EVENT GUIDE - Cycling Weekly Cycling Weekly Back to CW’s Olympics homepage>> Welcome to Cycling Weekly’s comprehensive guide to every cycling discipline at this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing, China (August 8-24).

Below you will find a description of each event, a list of current world and Olympic champions in that discipline, the British participants and our pick of who will win. OLYMPIC GAMES CYCLING DISCIPLINES TRACK EVENT GUIDE MEN?S INDIVIDUAL PURSUIT The individual pursuit sees the riders timed over a distance of 4km. Much like a time-trial, each rider completes the distance alone in the first qualifying round. The fastest eight riders are then pitted against each other, (first against eighth, second against seventh etc.) starting at opposite sides of the track. If one rider catches the other, then he or she is automatically declared the winner; if not, the winner is the one with the fastest time on the line. The four winners then take part in the gold medal and bronze medal finals with the fastest two winners going for gold and the slowest two for bronze. Why do the riders start at opposite sides of the track? It?s all in the name. The pursuit is two riders chasing each other around the track. It makes it interesting for spectators, and gives the riders a yardstick as they will be given instructions on whether or not they are leading.

2004 Olympic champion: Bradley Wiggins (GBR) 2008 World Champion: Bradley Wiggins (GBR) British riders: Bradley Wiggins plus either Geraint Thomas or Mark Cavendish World Record – 4:11.114mins, Chris Boardman (1996) (set using now banned ?superman? position) CW Favourites: Triple world champ Wiggins is the clear favourite, but Dutchman Jenning Huizenga is a threat after his performance at this year?s world champs. Back to top>> WOMEN?S INDIVIDUAL PURSUIT The women?s pursuit is very similar to the men?s event, but the women are timed over 3km. 2008 World Champion Rebecca Romero will be competing in the individual pursuit and will aim to become one of the few people to have won Olympic medals in two different disciplines, having won silver in the rowing sculls in the 2004 Athens Games.

2004 Women?s Olympic champion: Sarah Ulmer (New Zealand) 2008 World Champion: Rebecca Romero (GBR) British riders: World Record – 3:24.537mins, Sarah Ulmer (2004) CW Favourites: Rebecca Romero will start as the favourite although she has never ridden three rounds in competition, as she will in Beijing. Look out for other Brit Wendy Houvenaghel and American Sarah Hammer. Australia?s Katie Mactier is another medal contender Back to top>> MEN?S TEAM PURSUIT This is essentially the same as the individual pursuit, but with teams of four riders instead of just individuals, each sharing the work on the front. The team?s time is taken when the third rider crosses the line. The women?s team pursuit made its first appearance at this year?s Track Worlds, although will not feature in this year?s Olympics.

2004 Men?s Olympic Champions: Australia 2008 World champions: Great Britain World Record – 3:56.322mins – Great Britain British riders: Steven Burke, Ed Clancy, Paul Manning, Geraint Thomas, Bradley Wiggins CW Favourites: Another event that the Brits will go in to as favourites although the Danes pushed them all the way at the Worlds. It?s impossible to rule out the Aussies and look out for the Kiwis too. Back to top>> MEN?S SPRINT The sprint will be one of the most exciting events to watch in Beijing. Riders first set a qualifying time over 200 metres with the fastest 24 going in to the one-on-one matches. These take place three laps of the track with first man over the line winning. In the later rounds it?s a best of three format, and don?t forget the reperchages where beaten riders get the chance to get back in to the competition. Tactical nous is as important as raw power in the sprint event, as riders try to manoeuvre their rivals into position before going shoulder to shoulder at 70kph. Why do sprint riders start so slowly?

The sprint is all about tactics and manoeuvring your opponent into position before the line. Some like to lead the sprint whilst others like to sit behind and use their opponents? slipstream. The rider on the front will go slowly at first as he will want to keep an eye on his opponent, meaning looking behind him, so he knows when to react. 2004 Men?s Olympic champion: Ryan Bayley (Aus) 2008 Men?s World champion: Chris Hoy (GBR) World record – 9.772secs, Theo Bos (NED) (WR is for qualifying) British riders: Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny CW Favourites: Chris Hoy will start as the favourite after winning the world title in March, but if Theo Bos can get back to his best he?ll be hard to beat. Also look out for Kevin Sireau and Mickaël Bourgain of France. Back to top>> WOMEN?S SPRINT The women?s sprint is exactly the same as the men?s event, riding the same number of rounds and covering the same distances.

Unfortunately for the female sprinters, this is their only chance of gold after the 500m time trial was dropped after Athens and the Keirin has never been an Olympic event for the women. 2004 Women?s Olympic champion: Lori-Ann Muenzer (Can) 2008 Women?s World champion: Victoria Pendleton (GBR) World record – 10.831secs, Olga Slioussareva (RUS) British riders: Victoria Pendleton CW Favourites: Winning three World sprint titles in the last four years puts Victoria Pendleton at the top of the tree, especially due to the dominant manner in which she has won them. Natallia Tsylinskaya of Belarus could be a threat if she has recovered from her broken collarbone sustained at the Worlds, as will Simona Krupeckaite and China?s Shung Guo. Back to top>> MEN?S TEAM SPRINT The team sprint sees teams of three riders competing over three laps of the track. The first rider will lead the team from the start gate, before peeling off after one lap.

The second rider then takes to the front for the next lap, with the last rider finishing off the third. The fastest team over three laps is then declared the winner. Rules permit one false start, but the teams must get away cleanly on the second attempt. There will be three rounds as per the pursuits. This event is often won in hundredths if not thousandths of a second. Why is there no world Record? There is no World Record for the team sprint because it is not over a set distance. Cycling tracks differ in length (although they have been standardised recently to 250m for major competitions), so team sprints have been run over different distances. There is a world?s best time however (see below). 2004 Men?s Olympic champions: Germany 2008 Men?s World champions: France World?s best time- 43.271secs, France British riders: Ross Edgar, Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny, Jamie Staff CW Favourites: This really is the French?s event. They have won the world title nine times in the 14 years since its inception and were Olympic champions in Sydney. The British trio are also strong as are the Dutch and the Germans.

Back to top>> MEN?S POINTS RACE The points race is an endurance event often ridden by riders who compete on the road for the rest of the season. Tactical savvy is as important as raw speed as riders must pay constant attention to any attacks during the race. The race will take place over a distance of 40 kilometres. Intermediate sprints take place every ten laps, with points available for the first five riders across the line. If a rider manages to gain a lap on the field, twenty bonus points are awarded. The winner is simply the rider with the most points at the end of the race, so the final dash to the line is often irrelevant. 2004 Men?s Olympic champion: Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) 2008 Men?s World champion: Vasili Kiriyenka (Blr) British rider: Chris Newton CW Favourites: Since the 2004 Olympics, Mikhail Ignatiev has forged a strong career on the road and it remains to be seen whether he will have retained his powerful sprint. Chris Newton and Cameron Myer can never be discounted.

Back to top>> WOMEN?S POINTS RACE The women?s points race is much the same as the men?s event, although we be run over a shorter distance (likely to be 25km). Watch out for Briton, Rebecca Romero, who is making her cycling debut at Olympic level, after converting from rowing. 2004 Women?s Olympic champion: Olga Slyusareva (Rus) 2008 Women?s World champion: Marianne Vos (Ned) British rider: Rebecca Romero CW Favourites: Marianne Vos is unstoppable at the moment and looks set to win her first Olympic medal at this year?s Games. Back to top>> MEN?S KEIRIN The keirin is perhaps the most unusual of the track disciplines, requiring as it does the use of a Derny motorbike to pace the seven riders around the track. The keirin was first established in Japan in 1948. The Derny rider leads the riders for the first 1,400 metres increasing the speed from 30km/h to 50km/h, before peeling off to leave the riders to a final sprint.

No one is allowed to overtake the Derny whilst it is pacing the riders, although this does not stop the riders jostling for position behind it. Watch out for Japanese riders to shine; the keirin is almost a national sport in itself in Japan, with several ?keirin schools? across the country. Despite being a World Championship discipline for women, Victoria Pendleton et al will not get the chance to ride the keirin in Beijing, as it?s not yet a women?s Olympic discipline. Why is there a Derny? The Derny?s origins with the keirin event stretch back a long way and it?s unsure when it first originated. Its purpose is to pace the riders over the first few laps as it gradually ups the pace in preparation for the final sprint. 2004 men?s Olympic champion: Ryan Bayley (Aus) 2008 men?s World champion: Chris Hoy (GBR) British riders: Ross Edgar, Chris Hoy CW Favourites: As double world champion Chris Hoy has to start as favourite, but look out for his French nemesis Arnaud Tournant.

2004 Olympic champion Ryan Bayley cannot be overlooked, neither can Theo Bos of the Netherlands. Back to top>> MEN?S MADISON Named after Madison Square Garden, where the event first gained popular recognition, it is perhaps the most complex of track disciplines for spectators to follow. The event dates back to the late nineteenth century, and was conceived as a means of waiving the laws governing cycle racing, which dictated that riders could ride for no longer than twelve hours per day. The Madison is an endurance race, with teams of two riders competing. The team covering the most laps is declared the winner, with points accumulated only relevant in differentiating between teams on the same number of laps. Intermediate sprints are held every 20 laps with points available for the first four across the line. Only one team member is technically ?in the race? at any one time, with the other team member riding around at the top of the banking. The riders must touch to change over, yet this is usually done by means of a hand-sling, propelling the other rider back into the race. Why do the riders switch over?

Riders switch over to allow a team-mate to rest for a few laps or to put the other rider back into the race if he is a better sprinter if there is an intermediate sprint coming up. 2004 Men?s Olympic champions: Australia 2008 Men?s World champion: Great Britain British riders: ROAD EVENT GUIDE MEN?S ROAD RACE The Olympic Road course will certainly be a challenging one. It features an undulating 248.5km course around the Great Wall near Beijing. Starting in Tiananmen Square, the riders will not only be faced with a tough parcours, but stifling humidity will see riders being dropped from the start. There will be 145 competitors in the men?s event, battling it out over the demanding 11km climb that they will tackle seven times. The riders then descend from the climb and tackle it again, allowing them little or no time to recover. The road race used to be amateurs-only, but professionals have been allowed to compete since 1996. The backdrop to the race will be spectacular, with the race finishing under the Great Wall. Who?s going to win? Unclear at the moment.

The course is very demanding and the winner will certainly be a deserving one. 2004 Olympic champion Paolo Bettini is one of the main favourites. The heat, humidity and the length of the main climb will all be factors in the final selection. 2004 Men?s Olympic champion: Paolo Bettini (Ita) 2007 Men?s World champion: Paolo Bettini (Ita) British riders: Jonny Bellis; Steve Cummings; Roger Hammond: Ben Swift CW Favourites: Paolo Bettini is one of the greatest one-day riders in the sport and is very hard to beat on his day. Alberto Contador comes off the back of a Giro d?Italia win and will fare well on the 11km climb. Luxembourgois rider Fränk Schleck had a strong Tour de France finishing 6th and can is also a strong one-day rider. Back to top>> WOMEN?S ROAD RACE With only 67 riders, the women?s field is somewhat smaller than the men?s. The rules governing the women?s race are the same as those governing the men, with the exception that the women will compete over a shorter distance.

Britain will be sending a strong team, with eight-time British champion Nicole Cooke being one of the race?s main favourites. However, with only three riders per team, it will be make it difficult for any one team to control the race. Defending World champion, Marta Bastianelli, is unlikely to start after testing positive for an illicit dieting product in an out of competition test. 2004 Women?s Olympic champion: Sara Carrigan (Aus) 2007 Women?s World champion: Marta Bastianelli (Ita) British riders: Nicole Cooke, Emma Pooley, Sharon Laws CW Favourites: The World Championships have to date eluded the grasps of Nicole Cooke, although she is a key favourite to take the Olympic crown this year. Marianne Vos and Judith Arndt are both ex-World Champions with proven results on tough courses. Back to top>> MEN?S TIME TRIAL The Olympic time trial will be one of the highlights of the cycling events at the Olympics. With professional cycling?s elite time-triallists taking part, competition for medals will be fierce.

The men will be timed over two laps of a challenging 23.5km circuit (which is the same course tackled in the road race), each with an 11km climb. As with the road race, the riders have to compete with the temperature and humidity as well as the undulating course. 2004 Olympic time trial champion Tyler Hamilton will not be riding because he tested positive for blood doping after the event, but because of a technicality, has not yet had his title stripped. Why the funny bikes and helmets? Aerodynamics. A rider?s greatest enemy is the wind; in essence, the more ?slippery? a rider can make himself, the faster he will go. 2004 Men?s Olympic champion: Tyler Hamilton (USA) 2007 Men?s World champion: Fabian Cancellara (Swi) British rider: Steve Cummings CW Favourites: Fabian Cancellara is perhaps the world?s greatest time-triallist at the moment and will be difficult to beat. Jose Ivan Gutierrez is a strong time-triallist on his day and Stefan Schumacher recently won both time-trials in the Tour de France so cannot be discounted.

Steve Cummings can put in a good time trial and stands an outside chance of a medal. Back to top>> WOMEN?S TIME TRIAL The women?s time trial is exactly the same as the men?s event; the one exception being that the women will ride only one lap of the 23.5km circuit. 2007 World time trial champion Kristin Armstrong will be one of the main favourites for the event, although will face some stiff competition from the likes of Edita Pucinskaite and Hanker Kupfernagel. The backdrop to the event will be spectacular, with landmarks such as the Temple of Heaven, the Great Hall of the People and the Yonghegong Lama Temple. 2004 Women?s Olympic champion: Leontien van Moorsel (Ned) 2007 Women?s World champion: Hanker Kupfernagel (Ger) British riders: N/A CW Favourites: The event lacks any clear favourites but be sure to watch out for Kristin Armstrong and Edita Pucinskaite. Hanker Kupfernagel is the defending World champion and will certainly put up a fight.

BMX EVENT GUIDE MEN?S BMX BMX racing took off in the late 1960s/early 1970s in California. Riders start from steep ramps and compete over courses including jumps, bumps and steps. It was agreed only in 2003 that BMX would become an Olympic sport in 2008, so this year will see the BMX make its first Olympic appearance. The Laoshan track in Beijing is 370 metres long and features an almost vertical eight-metre-high start ramp. 2004 Men?s Olympic champion: N/A 2008 Men?s World champion: Maris Strombergs (Lat) British riders: Liam Phillips CW Favourites: Maris Strombergs (Lat) is the clear favourite for the event, although do not discount 18-year old Liam Phillips? chances of a medal. Back to top>> WOMEN?S BMX The women?s event is very similar to the men?s, with the exception being that the women compete over a distance of 350 metres, instead of 370. Look for British star Shanaze Reade to excel.

Shanaze is unique in combining BMX riding with track riding, although will not be riding the track in this year?s Games. 2004 Women?s Olympic champion: N/A 2008 Women?s World champion: Shanaze Reade (GBR) British riders: Shanaze Reade CW Favourites: Shanaze Reade is Britain?s Olympic hopeful with BMX making its inaugural appearance at the Games. She is a key favourite. MOUNTAIN BIKE EVENT GUIDE MEN?S CROSS-COUNTRY Located near the Laoshan Velodrome in the West of Beijing, the 4.6km mountain biking course is undulating and technical. Based on the Laoshan Mountain, the altitude varies from 75m to 127m, which does not sound particularly arduous, but may be enough to see decisive selections made in the race as legs begin to tire. Mountain biking has only been an Olympic event as of 1996, but the UCI asked the organisers this year to shorten the course and increase its difficulty. As with the road race, competitors will also have to compete with strong humidity levels.

2004 Men?s Olympic champion: Julien Absalon (Fra) 2008 Men?s World champion: Christoph Sauser (Sui) British riders: Oli Beckingsale, Liam Killeen CW Favourites: Julien Absalon is the defending Olympic champion and will be difficult to overhaul. Christoph Sauser is likely to be Absalon?s main challenger. Back to top>> WOMEN?S CROSS-COUNTRY As with many of the women?s events, the race is very similar to the men?s event, with the only exception being a shorter race distance. Based on the same course, the women?s event will be just as competitive with Gunn-Rita Dahle the Cycling Weekly favourite. 2004 Women?s Olympic champion: Gunn-Rita Dahle (Nor) 2008 Women?s World champion: Marie-Helene Premont (Can) British riders: N/A CW Favourites: The women?s mountain biking event has no outstanding favourite although look out for Gunn-Rita Dahle, Marie-Helene Premont, and Margarita Fullana.

Top 10 Beijing Olympics 2008 highlights - Telegraph Advertisement Top 10 Beijing Olympics 2008 highlights Britain's athletes made history when they took their tally of gold medals to 16 to make the Beijing Games the country's most successful Olympics for a century. Top gear: Chris Hoy celebrates winning gold in the sprint track cycling event Photo: REUTERS Image 1 of 4 Flag-bearer: Christine Ohuruogu on her lap of honour after winning the 400 metres final Photo: AP Image 1 of 4 Pulling power: Britain's victorious men's fours crew; from left to right, Andy Triggs-Hodge, Pete Reed, Steve Williams and Tom James Photo: GETTY IMAGES Image 1 of 4 Splendid isolation: Jamaica's Usain Bolt is out on his own and already celebrating as he approaches the finish line in the 100 metres final Photo: AFP 12:01AM GMT 16 Dec 2008 1) Three golds for Hoy Chris Hoy encapsulated the British dominance of the cycling events in China with golds in the sprint, the keirin and the team sprint.

Cycling has long been an exemplary squad within the British Olympic family, with other sports encouraged to follow their formats. Hoy got the hat-trick of medals, but hardly any of his team-mates missed out. 2) Ben again The British sailing squad were as dominant on the storm-tossed waters of Qingdao as their cycle-mounted compatriots were in Beijing. Ben Ainslie led the fleet with his third gold medal in as many Games, and this shy but immensely gifted sailor must be one of the strongest favourites for a home victory when the Olympic Regatta comes to Weymouth in 2012. 3) Adlington makes a splash Related Articles Britain brilliant in Beijing 15 Dec 2008 It had been almost half a century since Britain last won Olympic gold in a womens' swimming event; then Rebecca Adlington came along and won two in a single Games. Her victory in the 400m freestyle made her the first British female gold medallist in the pool since Anita Lonsbrough in 1960. But it was her world-record-breaking, utterly dominant win in the 800m freestyle that really stamped the pride of Mansfield as a global star.

4) Lightning Bolt The Jamaican sprinter broke three world records and won three gold medals, and the style and confidence of his running suggested that the 22-year-old, later voted Male Athlete of the Year, might have many more medals in him. Michael Johnson, a great admirer of Bolt, must be dreading an attack on his 400m record. 5) Vaulting ambition The sensational Russian pole-vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva became the darling of the Bird's Nest stadium with her world-record-breaking performances. The mark of 5.05 metres that she set in winning the gold medal was the 24th world record for this dazzlingly attractive and talented athlete. 6) That Yngling feeling Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson won the Yngling keelboat class in the Olympic Regatta in Qingdao in great style, and epitomised the nation's confidence in all the Olympic sailing classes. It was a second gold for Ayton and Webb, and the "three blondes in a boat" tag should in no way detract from their admirable athleticism and professionalism.

7) Romero the rider Four years after winning Olympic silver in the quadruple sculls on the rowing course in Athens, Rebecca Romero took to the cycle track to become the first British woman ever to compete in two different Olympic sports. But she went better than that, and better than her Athens performance, in winning the individual pursuit gold medal. Only one other woman has won medals in two different sports at the summer Games, and she was from East Germany. 8) Ohuruogu on the go The sprinter from east London won Great Britain's 50th gold medal in Olympic athletics when she triumphed in the 400 metres. The 24-year-old has survived controversy over a missed drugs test, and having been brought up less than a mile from the Olympic stadium now rising in Stratford, promises to be one of the most compelling athletes at the London Games in 2012. 9) Wiggins keeps on winning Bradley Wiggins set a remarkable record with three medals at the Athens Olympics four years ago, and could not match it last summer: he won only two medals in Beijing, but at least they were both gold.

Wiggins became the first rider ever to successfully defend his Olympic title in the individual pursuit, and then helped to collectively murder the opposition in the team pursuit event. 10) Nicole Cooke Hard to ignore the achievements of so many British cyclists; impossible to ignore the indefatigable Cooke, who had won almost everything in her sport except an Olympic gold medal, and who had been a disappointment at the Greek Games. Victory in the road race in China was not only a personal vindication, but Great Britain's 200th gold in the modern Olympics. Rebecca Romero seeks new challenge in London-Paris ride | Cyclingnews.com Rebecca Romero seeks new challenge in London-Paris ride Retired pro Backstedt also training for the event 1 / 1 Rebecca Romero on her gold medal pursuit ride. (Casey Gibson) Skip Ad Olympic and former world champion Rebecca Romero, who won gold in the 3km individual pursuit at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the 3km individual pursuit world title in the same year, will line up with riders for the start of London-Paris 2010 on June 24, 2010.

Related Articles Romero and Houvenaghel continue Britain's Olympic track success "I'm constantly looking for new and exciting challenges and that's why I've decided to ride the London-Paris 2010," said Romero. "It's a professional endurance event, and I know it's going to test me physically and mentally." Romero is the only British woman and one of only two women in the world to win summer Olympic medals in two different sports. Romero was a rowing silver medallist at the Athens Olympics in the quad sculls. "I'm really looking forward to the experience of riding in a fast-paced ride alongside some of the country's most serious cyclists. It's obviously a longer distance than I'm used to but that's what appeals to me. London-Paris 2010 will be one of my key targets for next year and I'm really looking forward to the challenge," said Romero. London-Paris 2010 covers 550km in three days with a rest day in Paris.

Also in the line-up for London-Paris 2010 is Swedish former professional cyclist, Magnus Backstedt, who won the Paris-Roubaix in 2004 and the 19th stage of the 1998 Tour de France. Backstedt now runs his own coffee company, Team MagnusMaximusCoffee.com, a squad of young Swedish and British riders. "London-Paris was one of few events I heard a lot about when I was a professional rider out in Europe and I have always said I would love to ride it one day," said Backstedt. "Knowing people who've ridden L2P and having heard so many great things about it, I couldn't resist riding when the opportunity came up for 2010." "It gives me a goal to work towards and the training will keep me fit now that I've ended my professional career." For more information on London-Paris 2010, visit Registration opens November 30. Share on Facebook

Question: In which cycling event did Rebecca Romero win the Gold medal at the 2008 Olympics?
Answer: INDIVIDUAL PURSUIT